Sunny day in Skagen

We woke up this morning with a nice and not too windy weather. Two teams as usual then : Christina, Angus, , Simon, Amelie and her boyfriend Augustin went for ringing and I joined Knud at World’s End 3 for counting migratory birds.

The highlight of the ringing morning is by far this recapture from Holland ! A Blackcap (Munk) found its way to our nets and we’re glad it did ! We don’t have the life history from this bird and we will keep you updated as soon as we hear from Holland.

Speaking of ring recovery, I told you about a Greylag Goose neckband which was found at Nordstand. We received an email from the ringer ! The bird was caught and ringed in Norway in Tennsundet, Herøy in 2012. This place is situated 950 km north of Skagen. This bird was seen during winters in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and in Holland, and ack in Norway to breed.

The migration counting was back on an average day today, with quite small numbers for most of the species here. But we were still entertained with a great diversity ! We counted no less than 47 different species including a few new life birds for me : Lapland Bunting (Lapværling) and Twite (Bjergirisk) ! The young Little Gulls were still present, mixing together with the Tern flock.

During the afternoon, most of us went a really nice walk around the area to enjoy the sun. Amelie and Augustin went to the Tip of Denmark to admire the big waves coming from the north and colliding into the Kattegat waters. They found 2 beauties of nature on their way : a lizard and a shark eggshell. Christina and I went around the north Skagen area from the lighthouse to the pencil, Nordstrand and the way back to the lighthouse by Skarvsoen and Grenen. We had the chance to cross our path with 2 vipers ! One very tiny young was crossing the road while a bigger adult was sunbathing.

During the day, I also went through the night recordings from the 2 previous days. The night before yesterday was unexpectedly quiet with only a few birds, although the weather was really perfect for night migration. Yesterday was different, and I put the recorder here at the Lighthouse since the fog was really dense, and it proved to be a good idea ! The light generated by the lighthouse is attracting birds blinded by the fog. Therefore they came with really good numbers ! The night started with a flock of Greylag Geese (Grågås), quickly followed by some crazy flocks of Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), including one which spent 3 minutes circling around the lighthouse and giving no less than 280 calls ! Crazy ! The cherry on top was that Barn Owl (Slørugle) which only called once. This species is very rare here and it could be only the second or third record for Skagen ! You can see more of the results on the link below.

Ringing Totals:

Chiffchaff - Gransanger:  8
Dunnock - Jernspurv:  4
Willow warbler - Løvsanger:  1
Blackcap - Munk:  16
Robin - Rødhals: 4
Coal tit - Sortmejse: 6

Total: 31

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Augustin Stickse, Grethe and Stig

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

Trektellen results